Creation Mythology Binds Tribes of the Grand Canyon

With all that is the United States of America, the greatest attraction within the National Park Service is the magnificent Grand Canyon. The meticulous preservation of this natural treasure is spread amongst several resources, not the least of which is the Hualapai Indian tribe. The Pai Yuman language term Cuyamuca: Tipai, Kamia, Kumeyaay, Ipai are all different dialects that mean the same, mist or fog over the mountain. There are many tribal people that speak the Yuman language along the crescent of the Colorado River not the least of which is the Haulapai.

Among the tribes who share this common language are those that also share a common creation mythology. Those tribes include the Havasupi, Mohave, Yavapai, Maricopa, Quechan, Cocopah, Kamia, Kwaimii, Pai Pai, Kiliwa, Kumeyaay, Tipai, and Ipai. Travel back along ancient Indian trails of the Grand Canyon, also brings to mind the epic song cycle and the stories that are associated with this extended region.

At the 3d annual meeting of the Yuman Family Language Summit in Parker, Arizona George Bryant gave a presentation based on accounts from different sources that depict the epic creation account of Kukwimat and his brother Askwimat. “His first account is in Kwatsan. His description speaks of the wind swirling up high and away. He makes special emphases of, “Et Mach and Matta Kuerem.” In English, he related the creation account this way.

When the world was first made all was dark, it was covered with water. The two brothers were talking, I am going up to see what is up there. As Camwood came up he kept his eyes closed. When he went back down he said he saw nothing but the bright sun and water everywhere. This brother then put his finger in the water and with a song describing this action, he stirred up silt and mud. The other brother also came up but he opened his eyes and as a result was blinded.”

Reportedly, the impression Bryant gave is that these: voices, sounds and stories are from the ages and reflect the elders responsibility to voice these oral traditions in traditional environments according to custom and tradition.

The Help and Spirit Mountain

Hal`bay means “People of the Tall Pine.” The Hualapai reservation is one million acres beside the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. It goes for 108 miles.The Colorado River is a significant landmark for the Hualapai. Historically, all of the Yuman language family tribes were located on or near or in close proximity to the Colorado River. There is a common binding creation myth which took place at “Spirit Mountain,” or “Wikahme”, along the Colorado River near Bullhead City, Arizona.

Where did the Hualapai come from? In the Tribe”s “”Creation Story”” the Hualapai originated from the sacred mountain, Wikame, which is located 20 miles north of the point where Arizona, Nevada, and California meet. Petroglyphs found at Wikame tell a story of the world covered with water and depict the creation of the Hualapai people and other Yuman-speaking tribes.

The Hualapai are descendants from one people, a group known archaeologically as the Cerbat. The Hal`bay originally lived in groups composed of fourteen bands. Culturally, the Hualapai consider themselves as part of the “Pai” meaning “the people.” The physical remains of the Pai dates back as early as A.D. 600.Cerbat Creation Story

The Upland Pai are descendants of the prehistoric Cerbat tradition, inhabiting the present territory of the Pai as early as AD. 1100. The Walapai origin myth places the creation of all the Yuman groups at a place on the west bank of the Colorado River, where the Great Spirit transformed the canes along the river’s edge into humans.

Any travel to the Grand Canyon is embellished with the beauty of the natural wonders there. But, as the Garden of Eden to the Yuman groups, the west bank of the Colorado River has an even greater meaning of the sacred.